


partners

by imjustwriting_cpd



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29664930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imjustwriting_cpd/pseuds/imjustwriting_cpd
Summary: friend. confidant. lover. they were all of it. they were everything.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 15
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short and sweet fic of a few things I thought about for 8x07. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

The Intelligence team finally had a lead on a gang affiliated drug crew they’d been trying to get off the streets. Jay and Adam had been successful in infiltrating a meth ring and were gearing up for what would be their final undercover buy to hopefully flip a couple of brothers in the game. Once they did that they would be once step closer to bringing down the entire operation.

“Please be careful,” Hailey said quietly to her partner. 

It was just the two of them in the equipment room while the rest of the team had headed down to the roll-up. The buy was happening within the hour and they would have to leave soon.

“It’ll be a piece of cake. Ruz and I will do the buy, Kim and Kev will pull up and make the arrest, and we’ll flip the Becerra brothers before lunch to get the big fish,” Jay told her. 

He watched Hailey carefully and noticed the slight shake of her hands as she clipped an audio wire to the collar of his shirt. Once the wire was secured she did a one-two test to check the sound quality and when she was satisfied with the result, she flattened his collar against his neck. She lowered her hands and fastened the top buttons of his shirt, and then dropped her arms to her sides.

He couldn’t ignore the look of worry in her eyes and stepped closer to her. He reached for one of her hands and squeezed her fingers, and then followed her eyes as she glanced down to their joined hands. She took a deep breath as she looked back up at him. 

“I mean it, Jay. No cowboy stuff. Voight and I are hanging back, and you and Ruz are gonna be unarmed. Promise me you’ll be careful,” Hailey told him as she squeezed his hand.

Jay took another step towards her and closed the little space that was left between them. He lifted his free hand to her face and held it in his palm while he brushed his thumb over her cheek. She leaned her face into his hand and brought her free arm up to rest around his waist. 

“I promise. Besides, I got a hot date tonight. Don’t want her thinking I stood her up,” he said as he grinned down at her.

“Oh really? Lucky girl,” Hailey said with a small smile. 

He shook his head at her. “I think I’m the lucky one.”

Hailey rolled her eyes, but still smiled up at him. “You’re also the cheesy one.”

“You like it,” he whispered. 

He glanced over her shoulder and clocked the closed door. They were still alone so he leaned his head down and pressed his lips against hers. It was soft and sweet and over far too soon than either would have liked it to be. 

“Maybe I like it a little bit,” Hailey admitted a moment later. 

Jay smiled at her again before he dropped one last kiss into her hair and then they pulled themselves away from one another. They packed up the unused equipment and made their way downstairs to the rest of the team, both hoping the next hour would go by easily enough. 

_5021 Eddie…10-1, 10-1! Shots fired at police…_

Of course it couldn’t be easy. Shots rang out and chaos ensued in the blink of an eye. Within seconds of hearing the distress call, Hailey and Voight were running out of the bullpen and down to their SUV’s. They peeled out of the parking lot one after the other and drove towards the scene as fast as possible with their lights flashing and sirens blaring.

All Hailey could think about was the fact that her partner, her boyfriend, the man she was so stupidly in love with, was unarmed and taking fire alongside Adam, and potentially Kim and Kevin as well. She pressed her foot down harder against the gas pedal at the thought and sped past her Sergeant. 

The radio crackled again a minute later and Hailey’s heart seized inside her chest before another set of words echoed throughout the car.

_5021 David…officers are not hit. I repeat, officers are not hit…_

Hailey let out a long breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding at the sound of Kevin’s voice. They were okay. _**He**_ was okay. 

When Hailey and Voight finally arrived at the scene, what felt like too long an amount of time later, they parked their cars and headed down the alley. As they made their way towards the rest of the team, her eyes scanned the faces of patrol officers and members of the forensics team, and then she spotted Kim and Kevin, followed by Adam and finally her eyes landed on Jay. They really were okay. She let out another sigh of relief as she saw it for herself even though she had heard Kevin’s all clear over the radio from just moments before. 

Jay met Hailey’s eyes and the pair shared a brief look before he gave her a single nod of his head. It was further confirmation that he was alright and she found herself able to take another breath of relief as she felt her fast beating heart finally begin to relax. He stood beside her while the rest of the team filled her and Voight in on the details of what happened. It took all the control she had inside of her not to reach for her partner’s hand. 

The team dispersed after their Sergeant gave his orders and Hailey headed for her Jeep. Jay followed after her and the pair fell in step side by side as they walked up the street together. 

Once they were settled inside her SUV, Hailey blew out a long sigh as she leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes. Jay looked over at her and reached for her hand from the passenger seat. He laced their fingers together and squeezed tightly, making Hailey open her eyes at the contact. When she turned to look at him, he took quick notice of her tears that had formed.

“I – “

“I know,” he cut her off as he squeezed her hand again. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Hailey said with a rasp to her voice. 

“I promised you I’d be careful,” he said with a matching tone.

Hailey shook her head and pulled their joined hands into her lap, placing her other over top of them. “You were careful. It’s not like you could have known there would be a shooter. It was supposed to be easy.”

“Maybe, but still. I know how worried you must have been, Hails.” 

“That’s putting it lightly. When I heard that call over the radio, it scared the crap out of me,” she told him.

He squeezed her hand again, feeling the way her fingers trembled in his grasp. The adrenaline had worn off and the stress of the situation settled in around them, what-could-have-been scenarios buzzing through their minds.

“I’m okay, Hailey. I’m right here with you,” he reminded her. 

She nodded at his words as he tried to reassure her and took another deep breath while they kept their eyes on one another. 

“You should strongly consider making Kevlar a part of your daily wardrobe. It’s like you’re a magnet for bullets,” she attempted to joke, but all it did was make the tears in her eyes fall and roll down her cheeks.

“Come here,” Jay whispered.

He tugged on her hand and she didn’t fight it when he pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her as best he could over the center console. He threaded a hand through her hair and brought her head into the crook of his neck. 

“I’m okay,” Jay whispered again into her hair. She nodded against his shoulder and gripped the back of his jacket with her fists. They held onto each other and he shushed her when he heard the distinct sounds of her sniffling.

When he was sure her cries had subsided several moments later, Jay released his hold on his partner and pulled back to look at her. He wasn’t prepared to see her eyes glistening and red from the onslaught of tears. 

“Ugh,” Hailey groaned as she settled back against her seat and wiped under her eyes. “I’m sorry for being so emotional over this.” 

Jay shook his head and smiled at her. “Don’t be sorry. It’s a good feeling knowing there’s someone who cares if something happens to me.”

“You’d be an idiot to think I don’t,” Hailey told him. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment, and then she pulled her seatbelt across her lap. He followed suit as she turned the ignition over and started the short trip back to the district.

“I’m just glad it wasn’t you in my position,” Jay said to her a minute into their drive.

Hailey glanced over as she came to a stop light and smirked at him. “Why’s that? You an ugly crier?”

Jay rolled his eyes at her teasing tone and reached for her hand again, a need to touch her taking over. 

“It’s hard to find a good partner,” he said. The memory of the last time he’d said those exact words to her suddenly filling his head, followed by the realization of just how much things had changed between them since then. 

“Is that right?” Hailey asked with a smirk still on her face. 

“Mmhmm, and I don’t just mean on the job. I like having you around,” he told her.

Jay kept his eyes on her and watched as her teasing smirk turned into a soft smile while she pondered the meaning behind his words. It was a quick realization that they weren’t just partners at work, but in every other meaning of the word as well.

Friend. Confidant. Lover. They were all of it. They were everything.

Hailey gave a slow nod of her head and squeezed his hand that was still clasped tightly around hers. “I kinda like having you around too, _**partner**_.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here they were three months later and she was right where he’d been one too many times before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hadn’t planned on writing a second part to this until Jess requested it, so big shoutout to ilithiyarys on tumblr because without her this might not exist. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

It was supposed to be a simple take down. An easy operation. Breach. Apprehend. Everyone goes home. Except it wasn’t easy and all hell broke loose. 

...

The team was doing a raid on a crew selling big guns out of an abandoned warehouse near Englewood. They had geared up, dressed to the nines in their vests and thigh holsters, with their guns at the ready. Hailey and Jay entered through the front while Kevin, Kim, and Adam took the back. 

Jay had entered first with Hailey behind him, a steady hand on his shoulder, as he led them inside the warehouse and they cleared room after room. 

When a rustling of some kind came from ahead of them, Jay stopped in his tracks and held a closed fist up at Hailey. She stopped behind him immediately and they stood still for a single moment before Jay turned and nodded to the right. Hailey went right as instructed and Jay held the left as they made quick and quiet steps towards an entryway, pausing just outside of it. Jay leaned forwards, poking his head in just enough to survey their path. He gave his partner the all-clear with a thumbs up and the pair of them pushed forward to the next room. They came to a set of closed double doors with dusty plastic windows in the centers of them. Unable to get a clear sight through the windows, Jay reached for the two-way clipped to his shoulder. 

“Ruz, report,” he whispered into the radio. 

Adam came back seconds later in the same hushed tone. “Back stairwell, south side of the building. We got the eye on the room. Count eight offenders, all armed. Guns are here too.”

“You see a set of double doors in that room with windows in ‘em? They look like hospital doors.” 

“Affirmative. Far end of it and they’re closed. You behind?”

“We are. You ready?”

“On your order, brother,” Adam said. 

Jay looked back at Hailey, who nodded at his unspoken question, and then reached for his radio again. 

“Move in,” he commanded. 

The team breached the room from their ends and began taking immediate fire from the offenders. They took out three of them with ease, going for cover behind concrete pillars and wooden pallets and barrels - anything they could use to help shield themselves from the bullets flying through the room. 

Jay and Hailey had separated, each fanning out to return fire – Hailey kneeling down behind a pillar while Jay crouched down by a pile of pallets several yards away. 

“5021 Henry...10-1, 10-1! Shots fired at police! Requesting immediate backup...we’re taking heavy fire...” Hailey spoke into her radio. 

Jay looked over at his partner as she made the distress call to patrol and the two locked eyes. She nodded once, signaling she was okay. 

“Ruz!” Jay called out then. 

“We’re good, we’re good!” he heard Adam shout back a second later and then Jay reached for his radio again to make sure the entire team heard his next orders.

“Burgess take center, Ruz and Atwater get her flank...Upton on me...in three, two, one...”

The team popped up from their places of cover together and unleashed heavy fire of their own. They were able to take down three more of the offenders, leaving the remaining two shielded behind a wall of pallets. The team moved in closer, ready to end this with the odds in their favor of six to two. As they neared the center of the room, a loud succession of pops rang out one after the other. The team ducked in an instant at the familiar sounds of an assault rifle firing, its bullets tearing through the wooden pallets like paper and ricocheting throughout the main room. 

When there was a single moment of silence Jay spoke into his radio again to give one more command.

“Go!”

The five of them moved forward in a line of side by side formation, the distinct sound of a magazine reload happening within feet from them. Adam and Kevin took one end of the pallets, Jay and Kim took the other, boxing in their offenders, and Hailey stood back at the ready in case someone made a run for it. 

There was another succession of pops that rang out as each pair stormed either end, and finally took down the remaining offenders. When Jay saw his three teammates were okay and that the perps were indeed down and disarmed, he took a step back and holstered his gun. 

“5021 Ida...offenders down, requesting multiple ambos and the crime lab...”

“Hailey, you good?” Jay called out through the pallets as Adam spoke over his radio. 

“Hailey?” Jay called out again thinking she must not have heard him with the radio chatter. 

He turned and walked around the wall of pallets in search of his partner. Once he spotted Hailey, his heart nearly gave out when he saw her on the floor trying to reach for her radio that had somehow detached from her vest. And then he saw the blood. 

“Hailey!” He shouted as he ran over and dropped down beside her. 

Jay looked her over with rushed hands trying to find a wound, praying it was superficial and her vest had caught the brunt of it. He watched as she gasped for breath and tried lifting her arm, but she could barely move. He reached for the straps of her vest, removing them as carefully as he could without causing her any further discomfort, and he saw the hole in her chest just above the left side of her collarbone. He immediately applied heavy pressure with one hand and reached for his radio with the other. 

“5021 George...10-1, 10-1! Officer down...I need an ambulance now!”

Jay heard the calls of his partner’s name from the rest of the team and in a flash Kevin was crouched down on the other side of her on the floor. 

“Kev, I can’t move my hand. Take off her vest, check for any other entry,” Jay ordered. 

Kevin quickly did as he was told, pulling at the velcro of Hailey’s vest until he could remove it completely. He noticed the slight tear and burn residue on her shirt and lifted it up over her stomach to see dark purple bruising already taking form just below her breasts. He scanned the rest of her torso and then looked up at Jay.

“Looks like it’s just the one. Vest caught the other. Dark bruising on her chest, probably hurt a few ribs,” Kevin said.

Hailey opened her mouth to try and speak, but could only gasp for breath as she struggled to breathe. Jay shook his head as he leaned down closer to her. “Don’t talk, Hails. Just breathe for me. Deep breaths. Ambo is coming. You’re gonna be fine. Ya hear me? You’re gonna be fine.”

Hailey’s gasps came out harder, her breathing becoming shallower. She lifted her good arm to try and reach for Jay, her eyes closing and opening as she began to fade in and out of consciousness. 

“No! You gotta stay awake Hailey! Come on, stay with me. Please, stay with me,” Jay pleaded with her as he felt tears stinging in his eyes. Hailey blinked her eyes for a moment until they closed again, and her arm dropped down to her side. 

“Girl, come on! Not like this,” Kevin whispered as Jay pressed harder against her bullet wound to try and cease the bleeding. 

Blaring sirens echoed through the broken windows of the warehouse moments later, and then Brett and Mackey, Voight, and patrol officers were surrounding them. Brett made quick work of patching up Hailey’s wound as best she could to try and contain the bleeding while Mackey secured an oxygen mask over the detective’s face. The pair of them, along with Jay and Kevin, got her on a stretcher and they wheeled her out to an ambulance. 

Jay didn’t wait for the rest of the team or his Sergeant as he climbed into the back of the cab with his partner. He reached for her good arm and held her hand in his as they were sped off to Med. When they arrived at the hospital, Jay was held back as the paramedics and nurses rushed Hailey through the doors of the emergency department. 

He’d been sitting in the same uncomfortable plastic chair for nearly an hour when the rest of Intelligence entered the waiting room. He stood to meet them, catching his Sergeant’s eyes and shook his head. 

“Nothing yet,” Jay croaked out. 

“This isn’t on you, Jay,” Hank told him.

“How is it not on me? I led that bust. I was calling the shots.“

Hank shook his head. “You did everything right, Jay. It was an accident.”

“She’s my partner. She should have been next to me instead of hanging back. I should have – “

“You didn’t know how it was gonna go down. None of you could have known that. And from what Kevin told me at the scene, you jumped right into action, kept it together for her until the ambo showed up. You did good, Jay,” Hank assured him. 

Jay shook his head in disbelief as he sat back down in the chair he had previously occupied and Hank took a seat beside him. He felt the tears he’d been holding back finally fall from his eyes, not caring who saw. 

“I can’t lose her Hank,” Jay whispered. 

“I know and you won’t. She’s gonna pull through,” Hank told him as he placed a hand on Jay’s shoulder.

Jay looked up and met his Sergeant’s eyes again as he tried to control his heavy breathing as more tears filled his eyes. “I can’t lose her. I – “

Hank squeezed his shoulder as he looked at his detective. “Jay, _**I know.**_ ”

“Jay?” 

They both looked up to see Will standing in front of them and rose from their chairs in an instant.

“How is she?” Jay immediately asked as the rest of the Intelligence team and multiple patrol officers stood behind him waiting. He watched as his brother took a deep breath and then locked eyes with him. 

“She’s really lucky. The bullet just missed an artery. She’s still in surgery, but Dr. Marcel was able to remove it. She did lose a lot of blood, but she’s hanging on. She’s a fighter, that’s for sure. They’re trying to repair as much of the damage to her shoulder as they can while she’s still under. They don’t wanna have to put her body through another surgery. She has two broken ribs, several others severely bruised, and she’s got some swelling on the back of her head...most likely a concussion from the fall.”

Jay stumbled on his feet as he heard his brother explain Hailey’s injuries and all, but dropped back down into his chair. He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head to his hands, feeling another batch of tears in his eyes. 

“Is she gonna be okay?” Hank asked the older Halstead. 

Will took another deep breath and gave a nod. “She should pull through just fine, but we’ll know more once she’s out of surgery and get a scan of her head. I’m not sure how much longer that’ll be. It’s a waiting game now.”

He cast a worried glance down to his brother before looking back to Hank. “I’ll keep you all updated as much as I can.”

Hank gave him a nod and then Will disappeared through the doors of the emergency department. He caught the familiar eyes of Maggie, one of the head nurses, through the doors. He nodded at her and waved her over.

“I heard what happened. Anything you need?” Maggie asked as she stood in front of Hank.

“Can you get Jay cleaned up please?” Hank asked her in a hushed tone nodding down at the detective. She followed his eyes and saw the blood staining Jay’s hands, jeans and jacket. 

“Of course. Jay, come with me,” she said carefully as she set a hand on the man’s shoulder. 

The contact snapped Jay out of his daze and he looked up with red rimmed eyes. “Maggie?”

“Come with me. I’ll get you some fresh clothes,” she said again with a gentle voice. 

Jay nodded and stood from his chair. Maggie placed a hand on his arm and led him into the E.D. while Hank turned to look back at Adam, Kim, and Kevin.

“Did any of those bastards make it?” Hank asked them.

Kim and Kevin shook their heads, and Adam locked eyes with their Sergeant. “Died on scene.”

“Good,” Hank said with a short nod and ending the conversation.

Another forty-five minutes went by before Maggie brought Jay back out into the waiting room. He had been able to shower in the staff bathroom and was given a matching pair of hospital sweats and sweatshirt. He seemed to be more lucid as he glanced around the room. Most of the patrol officers that had once filled it were now gone, most likely having been called back for duty. He saw Kevin sitting in a chair with his head down and his eyes closed; the man really could sleep anywhere. But what Jay hadn’t expected to see was Vanessa Rojas sitting next to the sleeping officer. She was scrolling on her phone and only looked up when Jay took a seat in the empty chair beside her.

“Hi,” Vanessa said, offering a kind smile as best she could given the circumstances.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you. It all happened so fast and I – “

Vanessa quickly shook her head at him and dropped a hand to his arm. “Hey, no. It’s okay. I’m sure you’ve been going through it. Kev called me. The others had to head back to the district, but Voight didn’t want you to be alone so we offered to stay.”

Jay only nodded in reply as he leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He felt Vanessa’s eyes on him giving him a once over. 

“You good?” Vanessa asked a moment later. 

Jay glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow, but she just gestured down at the outfit he had on that clearly wasn’t his. He nodded again and looked forward, his eyes staring out in front of him instead of meeting Vanessa’s eyes. 

“Yeah, I uh, I had her blood on me. Had to toss my jeans and jacket,” he said.

She gave a short nod as she kept her eyes on him. “Kev filled me in on what your brother said. Sounds like she’s gonna be okay.”

“I just need to see her. Hear her voice. I need to see for myself that she’s okay. I don’t know what I’d do if – “

“She’s gonna be just fine, Jay. Your brother said as much. Hailey’s one of the toughest people I know, and after everything she’s been through, there’s no way this is what would’ve taken her out. There’s no way she’s leaving you when she only just got you.”

Jay turned his head to meet her eyes then. He saw the knowing smile on her face and gave her a questioning look, but Vanessa just rolled her eyes at him. 

“Oh, please. I knew way before either of you were ready to admit your feelings for one another. I wasn’t all that surprised when she finally told me you guys were seeing each other,” Vanessa told him, coaxing the tiniest of smiles from him as he looked down at the floor.

“Ya know, it wasn’t that long ago I was sitting in this same waiting room next to Hailey when it was you back there,” Vanessa said then, pointing to the sliding doors leading into the emergency department. 

Jay nodded his head as he recalled the incident with Angela Nelson. How it was Hailey’s face he saw first after he’d woken up besides the doctors and nurses. He remembered the look of relief on her face, the pure happiness in her smile as she stood next to his bed. And then he remembered the day she came to take him home, how there had been something she wanted to tell him. He’d had a feeling of what that something was and he was ready for it then, but he screwed up by almost answering his damn undercover phone and Hailey had closed up on him. He shook his head again at the memory and met Vanessa’s eyes once more. 

“I was an idiot then. We’ve wasted so much time. I wasted so much time,” Jay said to the young woman. 

“All that matters now is that she’s gonna be okay. You still have time, Jay,” Vanessa told him. 

Before Jay could respond, the doors slid open and Will stepped into the waiting room, meeting his brother’s eyes. Vanessa swatted at Kevin’s arm, waking the man from his nap, and the three stood to meet Will as he approached them and gave a soft smile. 

“Hailey’s out of surgery and off the anesthesia, but she’s still pretty out of it. They’re gonna take her for a quick CT scan to check her head, and then they’ll get her into a recovery room.”

Jay breathed a deep sigh of pure relief and smiled his first real smile of the day as he stepped forward and clapped his brother on his shoulder. 

“Thanks man,” Jay told him. 

Will nodded, smiling widely at his brother. “I’ll come get you once she’s settled.”

“Thank you,” Jay told him again and then he was gone as soon as he’d arrived. 

Jay blew out another deep breath. She was out of surgery. She was okay. 

“You good, bro?” Kevin asked. 

“I am now,” Jay replied. 

“Well, we all know whose face she’s gonna wanna see when she wakes up so we’ll head out, but keep us posted. Tell her we love her,” Vanessa said glancing between the two men. 

Kevin nodded in agreement and clapped a hand over Jay’s back. “Yeah man. If y’all need anything just let us know. I’ll fill the rest of the team in.”

“Thanks guys,” Jay told them. 

He bumped fists with Kevin and Vanessa gave him a quick side hug, and then they left him on his own. He sat back down in his chair, finding it easier to breathe as he replayed his brothers and Vanessa’s words over in his head. 

_**She was okay. They still had time.** _

It was another hour before Will finally collected his brother from the waiting room and led him to the recovery floor. 

“We filled her in on what happened after she came to, but the pain meds knocked her out again. She’s a bit pale, but she’s okay,” Will assured him as they stood outside the door to Hailey’s room. 

Jay nodded once in understanding before Will opened the door, gesturing a hand at him to enter.

“I don’t foresee you leaving this room anytime soon so text me if you need anything,” Will said from the doorway. 

“Thanks man,” Jay told him. Will smiled at him one last time before he closed the door and left his brother and Hailey alone. 

Jay turned and took in the sight of her lying in her bed. She was pale like Will said she’d be and her bed was raised just enough so that she was propped up slightly. He could see pieces of bandages peeking out from the neck opening of her gown from the surgery. As he walked over to the side of her bed, he noticed the slight bulge over her chest and stomach through the fabric, and he remembered what Will had said about her injured ribs. More bandages. 

He caught sight of a chair in the corner of the room and brought it over to the side of her bed. He sat down next to her on her good side, unable to resist reaching for her hand, and breathed out another sigh of relief at the warmth he felt. 

He stared at her face as she slept and found himself shaking his head at the irony of the situation as he remembered the conversation they’d had not too long ago. Back when he and Adam had done an undercover buy with a couple of meth dealers and they were cornered by an unexpected offender with a gun. 

_“I’m just glad it wasn’t you in my position...”_

Jay had said those words to her as Hailey drove them back to the district. After he had held her as she cried for him, thinking the worst had happened to him yet again. 

Here they were three months later and she was right where he’d been one too many times before. Laid up in a hospital bed and recovering from a bullet. 

He understood then how she must have felt when it had been him in this situation. How frustrated she must have been with him all those times he was reckless and put himself in harm’s way. He made a silent promise to himself and to her in that moment that he’d do better, that he’d be better for her. The last few hours had been his own personal hell and as much as he never wanted to feel this way again, he especially didn’t want Hailey to have to feel it again either. 

He kept a hold on her hand, brushing his index finger over the inside of her wrist and felt her pulse beating against her skin. He was sure he’d never felt something so wonderful as he did right then, seeing her alive and feeling it too. 

He smiled again as he kept his eyes on his partner, his grin quickly growing wider at the realization that they weren’t just partners. Hailey had become his best friend. His favorite person. She had come into their unit and changed everything for him. Encouraged him to go to therapy, forced him to face his demons, to be better like he tried to be before she came along. He wouldn’t be the man he was now if it weren’t for her. 

He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss to her palm before he put it back down at her side. He didn’t let go even as he dozed off. 

When he blinked his eyes open sometime later, the first thing Jay saw was a pair of blue ones staring back at him and he smiled instantly at the sight. 

“Hey you,” he whispered. He straightened himself up in his chair and leaned forward, squeezing her hand that he still had a hold on. 

Hailey gave him a crooked smile, the morphine still making her somewhat drowsy as it continued to drip into her IV bag, and she squeezed back weakly. 

“How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” Jay asked her. 

“Yeah, get me out of here,” Hailey croaked out. 

Jay smiled at her again, glad to see his partner still being her usual sassy self even with the circumstances that surrounded her. 

“Yeah, that’s not happening anytime soon. Not until Dr. Marcel clears you,” he told her. She groaned back in response as she shifted slightly in her bed. 

“Seriously though, do you need anything?” Jay asked her again.

“Nuh-uh. ‘M good,” Hailey mumbled as she set her eyes back on him and took in his appearance for the first time since she’d woken up.

“You okay? The team? Did we get ‘em?” Hailey asked him. 

“You’re laid up in a hospital bed and worried about everyone else. Why am I not surprised?” Jay smirked at her. 

“Tell me.”

“The team is good; everyone is back at the district. And yeah, we got ‘em,” Jay told her. 

“And you?” Hailey asked.

Jay took a deep breath as he looked back at her. He could see the worrisome look in her eyes and knew he wouldn’t be able to lie to her. She could always read him so easily even before they’d started seeing one another. He reached out his free hand and held her hand with both of his, clutching on to her as tight as he could without hurting her. 

“I’m fine now that you’re awake. Gotta tell you though, it didn’t feel too good seeing the girl I love bleeding out on the floor,” Jay told her, his voice raspy as he felt another run of tears fill his eyes. 

Jay smiled at her as he saw her mouth part open at his confession and then he noticed how her eyes glossed over from sudden tears. He released her hand before standing from his chair and leaned over the side of her bed to press a kiss against her forehead. He felt her take hold of his hand and looked down at her with another soft smile on his face. 

“You love me?” Hailey asked him. Her tone was small and questioning as if she’d thought she might have heard him wrong, but Jay just nodded back at her.

“I love you so much, Hails. You have no idea how much,” he told her.

“Come here,” she whispered, tugging on his hand and trying to pull him towards her. He just shook his head playfully at her before leaning back down and kissing her briefly on the lips. 

“I can’t kiss you how I really wanna kiss you, but that’ll do for now,” Jay told her as he pulled away. He sat back down, scooting his chair as close to her as possible, and rested his arms on the side of her bed.

“Stupid oxygen tubes. I don’t even need them,” Hailey mumbled making him laugh.

“I disagree and they’re gonna stay exactly where they are,” he told her as he stared at her with a stern look in his eyes.

“Fine,” Hailey groaned again as she pulled her hand out of his and started tracing mindless patterns on the top of it instead. 

“So they told you what happened?” Jay asked her as he watched her. 

“Yeah, gonna be out of commission for a while. PT and a lot of desk duty for the next month or two. From what they told me, it seems we’re gonna have matching shoulder scars, partner.”

“Now who’s the bullet magnet?” Jay teased in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. 

“If I didn’t have such a headache right now I would roll my eyes at you,” Hailey told him causing him to smirk back at her. Her fingers stilled over his hand and her eyes started to droop. She blinked them open trying to fight the sleep her body was obviously craving and needing. 

“Why don’t you rest some more, huh? The quicker you do that, the quicker you get out of here,” he suggested as he took hold of her hand again. 

“You staying?” Hailey whispered as her eyes started closing again. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised.

“Jay?” 

“Hmmm?”

“I love you too,” she mumbled to him before her eyes closed once more and she gave in to the pain meds. 

He couldn’t fight the grin that splayed out over his face as he heard her say the words to him. He squeezed her hand again even though she was fast asleep and leaned back in his chair, content enough now knowing she was alright.

As he sat there holding her hand and watching her sleep, the grin on Jay’s face grew wider as he replayed their conversation in his head. He was so in love with her and she loved him back just the same. He didn’t know what would come next for them, but he was sure that whatever it was they would be just fine. She was okay and they still had time and they would deal with things together because they were _**partners.**_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading as always!


End file.
